The Hagia Irene carries a flattened, broad dome that sits unusually low against its heavy brick walls. Built on the site of a pre-Christian temple, it served as the original cathedral of Constantinople before the Hagia Sophia eclipsed it.…
Sultanahmet Historic Heart
Walk through the monumental center of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, tracing the historic heart of Istanbul where world-famous architectural wonders stand side by side.
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1. Hagia Irene
2. Soğuk Çeşme Sokak
Soğuk Çeşme Sokak runs as a narrow, cobblestone passage wedged between the high walls of Topkapi Palace and the Hagia Sophia. The street takes its name from a cold fountain, or soğuk çeşme, built here during the Ottoman era. A century ago,…
3. Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque
The Hagia Sophia dominates the horizon with its massive, shallow central dome, anchored by four slender minarets. Completed in five hundred thirty-seven under Emperor Justinian, it functioned as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral for nine…
4. Hurrem Sultan Hammam
The Hurrem Sultan Hammam sits between the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, marked by its distinctive twin domes covered in lead that shine a dull gray against the Istanbul sky. Mimar Sinan designed this bathhouse in fifteen fifty-six at…
5. The Stone of Million
The Milion stands as a single, weathered marble column fragment near the entrance to the Basilica Cistern. During the fourth century, Emperor Constantine the Great erected this monument to mark the exact center of the Byzantine world. It…
6. Basilica Cistern
The Basilica Cistern hides beneath the streets of Istanbul as a vast, subterranean reservoir. Three hundred thirty-six marble columns rise from the shallow water in perfectly aligned rows, supporting a forest of brick arches. Emperor…
7. German Fountain
The German Fountain features an octagonal pavilion topped by a golden dome supported by eight porphyry columns. Kaiser Wilhelm the Second gifted this structure to Sultan Abdulhamid the Second in nineteen hundred to commemorate his second…
8. Obelisk of Theodosius
The pink granite obelisk stands on a marble pedestal in the middle of the Sultanahmet Square, rising three times as high as the stone blocks beneath it. Emperor Theodosius the Great brought this monument from Egypt in the late fourth…
9. The Blue Mosque
Six thin, needle-like minarets rise above the cascading domes of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. Sultan Ahmed the first commissioned this structure in sixteen oh nine, hoping to appease God after a series of military setbacks. He was only…